November 29, 2016

I am not a car repair guy but I have been enjoying the South Main Auto Repair channel. He uses lots of high tech and low tech to get the job done. The Snap On automotive testing system he is using is the tool for the job! It has tons of data in it for troubleshooting and it is also a digital scope (you can see it in use at 15:20).

DIY has used OpenHab is used to build a home automation control system using a Raspberry Pi. They are controlling an RGB strip. They are using some Adafruit modules to interface the Raspberry Pi to the light strip.

“openHAB is a software for integrating different home automation systems and technologies into one single solution that allows over-arching automation rules and that offers uniform user interfaces.

This means openHAB
is designed to be absolutely vendor-neutral as well as hardware/protocol-agnostic
can run on any device that is capable of running a JVM (Linux, Mac, Windows)
lets you integrate an abundance of different home automation technologies into one
has a powerful rule engine to fulfill all your automation needs
comes with different web-based UIs as well as native UIs for iOS and Android
is fully open source
is maintained by a passionate and growing community
is easily extensible to integrate with new systems and devices
provides APIs for being integrated in other systems”

November 19, 2016

Tinkernut took a vintage camera and smoshed it together with some mini technology to re purpose it. A Raspberry Pi, camera module, WIFI module and screen is used as the wireless camera. The completed system sends each captured picture to the cloud. The code is very basic but turns this device into a robust IOT device that is fully functional.

November 7, 2016

Amazon Echo seems to be all the rage these days. What is even better than a quick answer from a sleek looking black box? Having a Billy Bass Fish speak it to you! Brian Kane hacked this up as a cool demo. There is currently no information on how it was built so for now you can just use this as inspiration!

November 4, 2016

If you are looking for a display on the go this new Kickstarter will be of interest to you. It is an interesting collapsible display that uses a short through high power DLP projector to get the job done. It has already tipped so this will become reality. Until a paper think color roll up display is available this will be the next best thing.

“SPUD is the only high resolution, 24-inch display with the awesome benefit of ultra-portability. It collapses just like a ruggedized umbrella to the size and weight of a paperback book – making it ideal for anyone on the go.

When expanded, SPUD uses custom optics combined with the latest DLP technology to produce the sharp, bright image that you need. Either with an HDMI cable or wireless adapter, SPUD can be connected to a smartphone, tablet, or laptop – no matter where you are!”

October 28, 2016

If you are looking for a project build that can probably be put together with some items out of your junk box and about $10 in parts. The main drive for the system are the motor units from 2 old DVD drives. An Arduino controls the system.